


Take a Hintz

by Skirdus



Category: LISA (Video Games)
Genre: Angst, Crying, Denial, Depression, Gen, Hallucinations, Implied/Referenced Gore, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Insults, Loneliness, Nightmares, Verbal Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-07-25
Packaged: 2018-07-26 13:46:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,461
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7576216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skirdus/pseuds/Skirdus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the Land of Hints, Terry Hintz finds himself to be two things: alone and in denial.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take a Hintz

**Author's Note:**

> I felt as though the Land of Hintz needed a proper story to accompany it. Get ready for some very sad and depressing Terry Hintz angst.

"Aaaaand... done!"

A few more hits from Terry's hammer successfully rooted the next friend in place. Others might have deemed it a 'scarecrow', but Terry wasn't one to utilize such crass labels. He gave his doppelganger a hearty smile, and it could do nothing in return but give one back. "Looking good today, my friend!" he acclaimed, using his free hand to gently pat his lookalike on the shoulder a time or two. Hefting his mallet over his own shoulder, Terry spun around and began walking back towards one of the many cottages that adorned his Land of Hints. On account of the sweat he'd just broken, the Lord of the Tutorial figured it would be in the best interests of his health if he took a break from erecting companions and instead wrote down but a handful of the many helpful hints that currently occupied his mind.

Upon entering the abode, Terry headed over to and subsequently knelt before a desk drawer, retrieving from inside of it a pencil and a few sheets of paper. He then took a seat in the desk's respective chair and set the papers and his hammer down atop the aforementioned drawer. It wasn't long before the parchments were embellished with Terry's wisdom:

> OPTIMISM:
> 
> It may be hard at times to overcome feelings of doubt and despair. You've always got to look ahead and think of _what could be_ instead of _what is_!
> 
> \- Happy-Go-Terry

It was hard work being this charitable, but Terry knew that without his advice, the world as he and everyone else knew it would fall into disarray. He couldn't let that happen; not for his own sake, but for that of his fans!

> FEELINGS:
> 
> It's important to empathize with others so that they can empathize right back. No one wants an emotionless husk in their life!
> 
> \- Compassionaterry 

The man couldn't help but grin giddily at the thought of his many followers basking in the glory of the knowledge he'd soon share with them. He didn't mind if that was all they could do to return the favor. That's just how charitable he was!

> EXERCISE:
> 
> Be sure to get plenty of exercise on a daily basis in order to keep yourself in shape and also build muscle! Perhaps one day, you might just be one-tenths as strong as the Lord of Hints!
> 
> \- Living Like Terry

"Hey," a familiar voice suddenly interrupted. Terry donned an expression of confusion before spinning around in his chair, only to be greeted by another one of the companions he'd constructed in his territory. It stared at him, motionless as it spoke again, "What are you even doing, Terry?"

A soft smirk crept along Terry's visage; one that preceded his response, "Why, crafting some more helpful hints for my many fans, of course! Why do you ask?"

" _Fans_? What _fans_? You're alone, Terry."

"Huh? That's nonsense, bud! I got a whole following I've got to tend to with this knowledge!"

"Look at yourself, building makeshift companions out of wood and straw. You're pathetic."

"Hey! Didn't you read the hint I made about insults in the Land of Hints?!"

"I don't heed the words of one as miserable as yourself, solitary fool."

With an expression turned mildly cross and his fists innocently balled, Terry rose from his chair and took a few steps towards his rude doppelganger. His feet hadn't been reunited with the ground for a few seconds before the other simply vanished without a trace. Glancing about the interior of the hovel, Terry shrugged and turned back around to collect the emergent hints and his trusty mallet from the desk. After collecting a few nails from inside the drawer, he headed back outside to erect his hints for the world to see.

It was only after a distance of approximately seven feet came between Terry and the hut that two more artificial duplicates appeared and flanked him. The first one spoke in Terry's own voice, "What are you doing with your sad excuse for a life, Terry? What would real people think?"

Terry replied with an expression of disgust, "What are you talking about? I have all these fans to take care of!"

The second doppelganger was unable shake its head, but would have done so were it able to. "You have no one, Terry. You're alone. You're miserable and alone," it responded in a scornful tone.

It was as if denial clung to him like a tumor. Terry refused to believe what they were telling him, instead dropping his supplies to the ground and rebuking the pair's claims, "N-no! You're wrong! Look at all these people! They need me!"

He pointed to one of the kindred spirits he'd created, only for it to emanate cruel and demeaning laughter in response to the gesture. Terry recoiled in fear, instead looking to another friend, only for it to do the same. The process was repeated several times over until nearly a dozen individual bouts of laughter surrounded him. Although they couldn't move, they were somehow coming closer, surrounding and closing in on Terry. He could do nothing but quiver in place as the voices spoke nothing but the truth; the truth he'd been denying for so very long.

_You're a freak, Terry. No one wants to be around you!_

_You're lucky no one's actually around to see someone as woeful as yourself!_

_Cry, Terry! Cry, so that your tears can cleanse this land of the taint you've bestowed upon it!_

_You are but one man against an army of doubt. You've no friends to help you conquer us, Terry!_

_I wish I could hate someone else, but there's no one to hate around here but YOU!_

He couldn't take it anymore. He couldn't take the voices that he'd held back for so long now. He couldn't handle the truth.

Terry darted back towards the abode, hastily grasping at what furniture was inside and using it to bar the door. Even then, the voices managed to slip through cracks in the walls and ceiling, filling his head with the despair he sought to deny at all costs. As he fell to the ground in a heap of his own lack of worth, tears began to crawl down his face and onto the ground. His face felt hot and his head felt hazy. He was alone, and there was no one to convince him that those who berated him were wrong in the slightest. It wasn't long before he finally lost consciousness.

 

_The usual dreamless sleep that Terry was used to could not console him this time around. Instead, a nightmare had taken its place, and Terry found himself subjected to even worse torment than what he'd sought to block out. In this realm, there were no crude machinations to stand in place of friends he didn't have. He was the only entity amidst a sea of indescribable nothingness. There weren't even any voices to harass him this time around. He himself had a voice, but there was no point in talking when there weren't any ears to register his words. Silently, he wept, praying that the loneliness that plagued him was in fact the dream and that he could wake up from the nightmare that was his reality. These prayers also fell upon the ears of no one, and Terry only wept harder in response._

 

He woke up in a shallow pool of tears, the glossy fluid staining most of his face and some of his clothing as well. Terry tried to stand, but his limbs were too weak to raise him from the ground: a place that the voices had convinced him that he belonged. There was no point in trying to stand when he had no one who willed it. There was no point in **living** when he had no one who willed it. Why then had he kept himself alive for this long? Was he holding out hope for a friend he knew he'd never have? It was likely, and it was even more likely that he'd been wasting his time in the prison he'd built for himself. The Land of Hints was, in truth, nothing more than Terry's ultimate desires given primitive tangibility. He'd denied this for too long now, and yet accepting it wouldn't change a thing. There was nothing he could do but lay there and rot, hoping that perhaps he'd do some vultures a service by allowing them to feed on his decomposing corpse.

Terry wanted to believe that there were people who desperately needed him, but that was not the case. It was Terry who desperately needed someone - _anyone_ \- and there was no one to fulfill that need.

He was alone, and _perhaps_ , he thought, _it was better off that way_.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this! I also wanted to let you know that while there's an infinite number of plots in the LISA universe that I could write about, I'm completely open to your ideas and suggestions as to what I should tackle next. Don't be afraid to request something! ^^


End file.
